Losing My Religion
by truemizzie
Summary: Hermione reflects on how her religion affected her life in the Wizarding World.


Harry Potter. Noun.

Definition: a story whose characters and circumstances are not owned by truemizzie (ME!).

Summary: Hermione thinks about how her religion affected her life in the Wizarding World.

Reason: With all of this "Banned Book" stuff, I started thinking about religion and fantasy. Then I started wondering what it would be like if the Wizarding World was real, and somebody like me happened to be a wizard. Would they think they'd be going down to the H-E-double hockey sticks? I don't know…it's more of a muse than anything.

Losing My Religion

The first year was the hardest, and it didn't get much better from there. Ron never understands why it's so special when I get a letter from my parents. He doesn't realize that in the past six years they've only sent me twelve: five on Christmas, four before exams and three when I was petrified. That's right: they didn't send me anything my entire first year, and that wasn't my fault…really.

You see, I've always been brought up to believe that witchcraft was evil, and that it was sent by Satan himself. I could never get my parents to let me read the Lord of the Rings - even the Chronicles or Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which is basically a fantasy novel about Jesus, was too far fetched for my family. Imagine their reaction when I got my school letter.

Harry always talks about how many letters he got before he could read any, and how he couldn't even count them. I counted. I got six thousand seven hundred and forty-two before I could sneak to the mailbox and get one. Nobody noticed - there were four hundred and ninety-nine left.

It was surreal. Before I read it I thought that maybe the mafia was after us, or something normal like that. Now, what links my family had with the mafia are beyond me, but it would have been way easier to believe than what I saw in that letter.

I confronted my parents. After they lectured me about lying to them and stealing the letter, they told me that it was just a cult try to bother us. I suggested that they call the police, but they refused. They assured me that God would protect us. Then we got the visit.

A lady - I later knew her as Professor McGonagall - talked to my parents. I don't know exactly what she said, only that we skipped church that week. The next Sunday I was in Diagon Alley, buying all the books I could afford, plus a few I bought out of my babysitting money.

So, I went to Hogwarts. I didn't know what to expect, so I learned everything there was to know about my new world. I had no help in that - my parents didn't even know. Ron called it "Know-It-All". I called it "Sin".

My parents refused to send me a letter by owl. I would write them, begging for news from home, but they wouldn't write back. I don't even think they read my letters. That summer I went home to find piles of math, science and English homework that they expected me to do. They took me to church two or three times every week - to pray for forgiveness.

It was so strange, though. They seemed to hate the Wizarding World, but never once tried to stop me from going back to Hogwarts.

Anyways, they finally started to send me letters. They were filled with contempt, but I still cherished them. I keep them in my Bible, so that every time I read them I'm reminded of what I used to believe. Emphasis on "used", I think. You see, I still believe every single story in the Bible, all the good messages, but I can't help wondering how so much can be true while only one thing isn't. How could I believe that a place with such amazing people is sent from the devil? The Weasley's certainly aren't.

I guess there are a few things. There's Voldemort. But what about all of his opposition? All the great people fighting against him?

A few weeks ago I was reading the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Call it a rebellion on my part. Anyways, Ginny asked me what it was about, and I told her it was the story of Jesus.

"Who's Jesus?" she asked. That was when I found out: Wizards don't believe in God.

Today Professor McGonagall asked me into her office. It turns out that I have a prophesy, kind of like Harry's. I was destined to be his friend. That's why I had to go to Hogwarts. If the prophecy didn't exist, they would have just given up on me. I know that this puts me in a lot of danger, but I'm so glad this prophesy exists. I couldn't imagine my life without Hogwarts, or Ron, or Harry.

Well, I'd like to leave it here. I'm almost finished the Hobbit. Tomorrow I'll start on the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. Hey, some people think it has religious ties.


End file.
